This invention relates generally to a passive restraint in the form of means for cooperating with the seat belt to assure the safety of any driver or passenger supported by the same, within a vehicle, and to prevent the incurrence of needless injury in the event that an impacting accident should occur.
Safety of the driver, in addition to passengers, has long been of prime interest to the automotive manufacturers, the various safety councils and governmental agencies that maintain statistics pertaining to vehicle accidents, and injuries sustained, and in addition, the general driver himself/herself has utmost concern about their safety, particularly when driving their own vehicle, and especially for any passengers they may have therein. Human interest in the safety of oneself, and anyone surrounding you, is of primary concern to the vehicle owner, but likewise, the safety of the passengers in your car, and while driving, is of significant interests, not only to reduce any injury that might be sustained, but likewise, insurance costs and the legal complications and ramifications that occur, as a result of an accident, are overwhelming.
For the foregoing reasons, the installation of seat belts in vehicles came of vogue in the 1960's, and many jurisdictions have imposed mandatory seat belts, at least for front seat passengers, in order to add to passenger safety. But, most, if not all, of the seat belts installed within vehicles, even currently, are fabricated of a canvas like woven material, and as result, while they are effective for restraining purposes, and prevent the passenger from being thrown too forwardly and rapidly, to reduce physical damage through impact, in a severe accident, it has been found that the belts have a tendency to collapse, longitudinally, and crease along their approximate center line, and in effect, form a type of cutting edge that can cause damage to the passenger itself. Thus, that type of an impairment is just as damaging if not deadly to the passenger, as has been found and analyzed, as a result of study of severe accidents happening in the past, as is the superficial damage done to the passenger, upon impacting a frontal portion of the vehicle that the passenger hits upon the occurrence of an accident.
Various passenger restraints have been constructed, in an effort to alleviate problems for the driver, and the passenger, seated within a vehicle. For example, the patent to Von Ardenne, et al, No. 3,134,626, shows a safety belt for passengers of vehicles, which incorporates the usual style of canvas belt, but in this particular instance, is treated for the purpose of enhancing the load bearing capacity of the belt, in addition to enhance its useful life.
The patent to Finnigan, No. 3,306,662, discloses an attachment for vehicle safety belts and shoulder harness. This particular device shows a series of what appears to be cylindrical members located within the seat belt and which interconnect with the air conditioning system for the ventilation and comfort of the wearer.
The patent to Fein, No. 3,397,913, shows a detachable decorative seat belt cover.
The patent to Bennett, No. 3,720,445, discloses a passenger restraint barrier, which incorporates a triangular barrier means to afford impact cushioning within a waist portion of a seat belt.
The patent to Finnigan, No. 3,957,282, shows an attachment for a vehicle shoulder harness, which is the addition of a soft resilient material embracing the shoulder belt apparently for comfort purposes.
The patent to Johnson, No. 4,004,583, discloses a restraining device, for use for maintaining the restraint of a prisoner.
The patent to Ocel, et al., No. 4,177,807, discloses another form of restraining belt for patients, particularly those in the wheelchair, etc.
The patent to Friedman, No. 4,324,204, shows an animal safety restraint for vehicles, and which provides a belt means, attaching to the back of the vehicle seat, for holding the dog in place.
The patent to Cunningham, No. 4,341,422, shows another form of restraint device, of the type that fits between the adult lap safety belt and the abdomen of a child, for securing the child in place.
The patent to Law, et al, No. 4,348,037, shows a safety cushion apparatus that attaches to an automotive vehicle belt-type restraint, and is designed to soften and cushion the shock of a sudden constraint against the user's body, but apparently does not incorporate any type of force or pressure dissemination means, as developed in this current invention. This prior art cushion apparently incorporates an inflatable cushioning means, in order to resist impact.
The patent to Spill, No. 4,619,468, shows a cover for a seat belt for an automobile, which, once again, the cover is apparently provided for cushioning purposes, if not to protect the underlying clothing worn by the passenger.
The patent to Quartano, No. 4,666,207, shows a form of child shopping cart cushion, obviously for supporting an infant within a shopping cart while the mother markets.
The patent to Wold, No. 4,678,205, shows a method and apparatus for use with a safety harness, in this particular instance, includes the folding of a comforting material around the seat belt in order to add to the convenience of its wearer.
The patent to La Pointe, No. 4,693,495, shows a shoulder belt cushion, that apparently simply folds around the seat belt, as shown in its FIG. 1, and incorporates a pad therein, for comfort purposes, but not to attain force dissemination.
The patent to Saenz, No. 4,699,401, shows a removable seat belt cover, which in this particular instance, apparently incorporates pockets for holding miscellaneous personal items. In the case of an accident, it is not believed that such items, such as a pen, as shown, should desirably be located upon the seat belt, which is designed to function as a safety means for the passenger.
The patent to Weightman, et al., No. 4,741,574, discloses another form of seat belt cover and cushion.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this current invention to improve upon seat belts and their cushioning and safety means as shown in the prior art, by adding a force dissemination means in cooperation with the belt to prevent the belt from creasing, as previously explained, when a heavy impact is encountered by the passenger, as when an accident occurs, and at the same time, to provide for dissemination of the impacting forces over a greater surface area, to reduce injury during the occurrence of such an accident.
Another object of this invention is to provide a substantially rigid but resilient support used in conjunction with a seat belt, in order to spread the forces of impact encountered by the passenger during a vehicle accident.
It is another object of this invention is to provide a substantially rigid but resilient support means used in conjunction with a seat belt, and which may be of a supplemental design, for addition to the safety of a seat belt already in usage, or it may be permanently installed with the seat belt as original equipment.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a passive restraint enhancer for application in conjunction with the seat belt, and which effectively prevents any foldage or creasing of the seat belt, which can normally exert impairing pressure upon the passenger, when an accident occurs.
Still another object of this invention is to provide the passive restrain enhancer, incorporating a substantially rigid but resilient support, and which tends to elongate, when pressure is exerted upon it, in order to reduce the forces of impact encountered when an accident occurs.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a passive resistance enhancement for use in conjunction with the seat belt and which increases its surface area to the occupant for greater dissemination of impacting forces and a reducing of belt related injuries.
These and other objects may become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of its preferred embodiment, in view of the drawings.